


Sweet Hibiscus Tea

by PSIHawaii



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Avian!Lomadia, Gen, Miscommunication, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, Platonic Relationships, References to Depression, Video Game Mechanics, lom and nilesy are referred to as 'partners' and the like but its in a friend way y know, rated teen for mild language, yeah i rlly dont know what to put here for now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PSIHawaii/pseuds/PSIHawaii
Summary: Strange happenings and non-humans were pretty common-place on the server. Aliens and dwarves. Elves and robots. Bipedal animals and even gods themselves. Even regular humans were altered or transformed in some way, blessed with magic powers and the like.Nilesy just looked so plain by comparison.OrHow I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being A Cat God
Relationships: Lomadia & Nilesy, Nanosounds & Lalna
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Here's The Thing, I Can't Do Anything Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nilesy has something on his mind

If this--this whole thing--had happened to anyone else it would’ve been fine. Normal, even.

Strange happenings and non-humans were pretty common-place on the server. Aliens and dwarves. Elves and robots. Bipedal animals and even gods themselves. Even regular humans were altered or transformed in some way, blessed with magic powers and the like.

Nilesy just looked so plain by comparison.

His partner, Lomadia, was also a sight in and of herself. Broad, brown wings sprouted from her back and down feathers lined her arms. Her nails were unnaturally sharp and what would be the whites of her eyes were a striking yellow that had a way of making people put their guards up.

Quite the companion for a pool boy, but he wasn’t complaining. As much as he lamented over himself and his abilities--or lack thereof--he didn’t mind being a sidekick to anyone. It certainly beat trying to survive out in the world by himself.

Nilesy mulled it over for a while, his supposed plainness, trying to distract himself from the dull pain in the back of his head. He’d rather not waste a health potion getting rid of a little headache, so he was content to grin and bear it. He spent his time sitting on the floor and trying to organize his chests--the keyword being _trying_. He was in an egregious cycle of taking items out only to put them back in as he changed his mind about where certain things should be kept when suddenly he felt a light tug on his hair.

“Getting pretty shaggy there, huh?”

Lomadia walked around him and leaned her sword up against the stairs, decompressing as she entered the cottage. Nilesy did little but glance at her before returning to his work.

“Yeah,” He answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Growin’ it out, actually.”

“Are you really or are you just saying that so I don’t bother you about looking like a bum?”

“I’m growing it out _specifically_ so you don’t bother me about looking like a bum.”

“Oh, of course. Full-proof plan there.” She chuckled a bit.

She started rambling about her day, but he didn’t pay attention. Not out of malice or disinterest, of course. He just dreaded what would happen when she finished; when she would turn the tables and wonder about what he got done and what he was up to because, in truth, it wasn’t much of anything. Which wouldn’t be a problem--there were plenty of days where they both couldn’t be bothered--it’s just that ‘not much of anything’ had been his answer for the past week. He already felt bad about not getting anything done but if he made Lom worry about and fuss over him any more than she already did it’d be the cherry on top of his self-pity pie. It didn’t help that his headache was persistent as all hell and seemed to worsen at his negative thoughts. He attempted to tune back into the conversation.

“-But anyway, yeah. I ended up having to move where all the bees were kept to make room for the build instead of starting on it right away. It’ll probably be done in a couple weeks now.” She finished.

“You and your damn bees, I swear.” He joked.

“ _Okay_ , at least with the bees I’m getting stuff done. Unlike _someone_.”

He tensed up. She was joking, he knew that, there was nothing in her tone that indicated she actually held anything against him regarding his work ethic. They were friends, they made fun of each other all the time! It wasn’t like he took offense to it, was it? Why was he reasoning with himself so much?

He was spiraling a bit. He hadn’t talked for a while and Lom would start to worry and they’d have to _talk_ about it. Talking on its own was fine, but talking led to well-meaning patronization led to Lom feeling the need to babysit him for a couple days led to more self-doubt and repeat. Gods, he needed to say something quickly. _Come on, come on, come on-_

“Ni? You okay?”

He twitched his head a little at her voice and turned in her direction. He couldn’t quite read her expression.

“Ah… yes. Yes! Fine, actually, just these damn magical artifacts. Don’t, uh- Don’t know where to keep ‘em.”

“Hm.” She clicked her tongue and thought for a bit. “Just throw ‘em in one of my chests.”

He stood up, “Are you sure?” He took the time to crack his back and exhaled as he did. “I wouldn’t wanna intrude, ah, _encroach_ in on your space.”

She waved her hand. “Not a problem, I can always reorganize myself. Plus, wouldn’t you rather have me hold all the explodey and cursed nonsense?”

“Eh, I don’t know… Cursed nonsense might cancel out my usual shit luck.”

“Or it does nothing and you just have shittier luck.”

“Impossible. Better keep the cursed, explodey stuff on me for the time being.”

She sighed in defeat, stood up, and started walking toward the kitchen. “Have it your way, I guess.”

Lom got to work while Nilesy stood still, rubbing his hands together awkwardly. A minute--maybe two--passed between them, neither one wanted to pick up the conversation (Nilesy out of fear of continuing the doubt, conversation, patronize cycle, and Lom… he couldn’t quite say why).

“Well,” He broke the silence and clasped his hand together. “Been quite a day. I’m gonna get to bed.”

“Wh- really? I just got home, the sun's barely even set!”

“Yeah,” he drawled, moving towards his bed. “I got an early day planned, gonna wanna wake up before noon.” He faked a yawn to drive home his point.

“You’re not gonna eat dinner?”

“Ate before you came here!” He sat and pulled his sheets over him.

“Okay… I’m gonna stay up for a while if that’s alright with you.”

“Totally, just pretend I’m not here.”

He laid his head on his pillow and tried to tune out his own thoughts. Mr. Cat curled up beside him and began purring softly while Lom worked in the background. Nilesy could’ve sworn that every time she stepped too hard or banged a pot she would curse under her breath, but he couldn’t make it out exactly.

His headache didn’t subside.


	2. Try As I Absolutely, Totally Might

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nilesy has a problem seeks science for the answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's some not really specific descriptions of muscle pains in this, tread lightly if that bothers you

Nilesy did actually wake up early. Earlier than he had anticipated for his lie.

At first, he couldn’t figure out why surmising that it must’ve been the sun just beginning to stream in or maybe the sheer amount of cats that had piled onto him in bed. A part of him figured it was karma for lying in the first place, but he dismissed that thought as quickly as he could.

He laid there for a bit thinking not much of it before his headache from yesterday came back with a vengeance. Though instead of remaining a small nuisance he could ignore until the end of the day, it seemed adamant on spreading through his body and sending a coarse electric shock that nearly made him jump out of his skin.

He buried his head in his pillow and fought the natural instinct to scream in pain. It did nothing but muffle the sound and wake up some of the cats using him as a mattress who promptly got off and let him be. He tried slowly to push himself out of bed, but his limbs wouldn’t corporate, his muscles too tense to bend. Every attempt to move was met with a ripple of pain starting from his joints and echoing throughout his nervous system.

Until finally, it stopped. Nilesy collapsed onto his bed, heavily breathing and allowing his body to recuperate.

He looked over and saw Lom on the bed next to him. Snoring softly, none the wiser.

She couldn’t know about this.

Of course, he would  _ love _ to tell her. He’d love to hear if there was some magical way to stop that… that full-body pain spasm from happening again. Maybe he’d even get lucky and there’d be some spell she knew that’d stop his brain from being so shit and he could get back to work as normal (There wasn’t. He’s checked more than enough times).

But he couldn’t; or, more accurately, he didn’t want to.

He was already apprehensive about telling her how hard it was for him to get anything done. Who knew how she would react to hearing about how he could barely start his day without writhing in pain?

With some effort, he sat up, smoothed his feet on the floor so he could ground himself, and tiptoed to the front door of the cottage. He made his way slowly, partially to not accidentally let the wood flooring dip and creak under his weight and partially out of fear that if he moved too suddenly, his body would ache with the same intensity it did before.

He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. He pondered briefly about where to go. Truthfully, there weren’t a lot of options. If he went up to just anybody hoping to cure what ails him, he’d end up worse off or dead. He needed someone who knew about this kind of stuff, the closest he could get to a doctor who he was also on good terms with. 

Oh, duh.

He tiptoed back into the house, stepping over the cats that crowded the door when he left. He opened a chest and took out two things: a health potion and his communicator. He downed the health potion immediately so that he’d be sure his body wouldn’t freak out on him. He looked over to Lom, still sleeping, and snuck out the door as quickly as he could.

Once outside, he leaned against the door and slipped his communicator on his wrist. Usually, neither he nor Lom had any real use for them. They were only helpful by way of sending out a signal when the other was in distress but other than that they hardly used them for messaging each other and even less so for their more experimental features. It would be useful if when Lom woke up or, gods forbid when dusk fell and she was wondering where he’d gone. She could simply send him a message and he’d reply back with some lame excuse about trying to get his gear back from his last death chest.

The journey was simple enough, a moderately short walk through a forest and he’d be at his destination. He and Lom went through dozens of times and had the path committed to memory, so he was keen on letting his mind wander as he pushed past the branches guarding the entrance.

Or he would be if he had felt at ease enough to.

Granted, the forest was near magic police territory, so it was best to keep your guard up if you were a practicing witch passing through. This feeling though, Nilesy realized quickly, was less anxiety about possibly being caught and more of… more of an instinct thing he’d say. He couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he was feeling and why he was feeling it but he knew it couldn’t have been good. It was like every fiber of his being was telling him to head back the way he came and never return.

In all honesty, wanting to run at the first sign of danger was a feeling he was well acquainted with, but it felt weird experiencing it because of a forest.

Walking further he reached a clearing with several paths leading farther into the woods or out of them entirely. He stopped, not to consider which path to take but to catch his breath and shake the fear that followed him through his walk. He took a deep breath--though it seemed more like a gasp--despite not having worked hard to get to that point.

It was weird, as much as he wanted to leave moments ago that same anxious, nauseating feeling kept him in place. He felt like a little kid cowering under the covers, daring not to lift them up out of fear of being found by whatever monster he created in his head. Like, if he turned around, whatever imaginary beast had been stalking his every move would choose strike. When he was most aware when he felt the readiest.

And then at once, as it seemed with all the strange feelings he was going through today, it disappeared and he felt at ease. He turned towards the correct path and continued out of the forest as quick as possible.

He pushed past the branches closing off the forest’s exit and saw his destination, Panda Labs, greeting him. A part of him felt bad for disturbing them so early in the morning, but another part pricked at his muscle fibers and threatened to send him convulsing if he didn’t do something to fix whatever it was. The thought of it made his heart rate pick up as he made his way to the front door.

He knocked--a little more aggressively than he’d liked to have, but this was urgent!--and waited. Through the door, he heard the sounds of people stirring and a muffled argument before finally, someone huffed. Shortly after, he heard footsteps march towards the door and a small creak as it opened slowly before him. A sleepy, messy-haired Lalna stood in front of him and looked him up and down.

“Nilesy?” he asked, voice rough.

“Sorry if I interrupted something, I normally wouldn’t wanna bother ya or anything,” Nilesy started.

“It’s five in the morning.”

“I know, I know. This is important, though. Uh… You’re really good with sciencey stuff, right?”

“...What?”

“Lalna, just--” he clenched his fists. “I think there’s something wrong with me and I need your help.”

“At five in the morning?”

“Who’s at the door?” Nano yelled from upstairs before promptly running down and answering her own question.

“Oh, hi Nano.” Nilsey gave a weak wave as she looked at him.

“Nilesy? What’re you doing here?”

“Says he needs help,” Lalna spoke up after a yawn.

“Well, come on then, don’t leave him outside. Come on in.”

“Oh! Thank you.” Nilesy stepped inside, his arms close to his sides.

“What did you need help with again?” Lalna put a hand on Nilesy’s back and guided him to a side room. It had a weird sort of operating table against the wall and various devices, test tubes, and notes littered about. Lalna kicked some of the clutter away to make room and gestured for Nilesy to be seated.

“Well--” Nilesy hopped up on the operating table and laid his hands on his lap “--I woke up this morning a little early, but I didn’t think anything of it at first ‘cause, y’know, whatever?”

“Honestly a miracle you got up before noon,” Nano teased as she leaned against the door frame.

“Haha.” he turned to her and then back to Lalna. “So, I woke up early, right? And everything was fine until…”

“Until?” Lalna asked.

“I had these… Well, they were like muscle pains, yeah? Only about a hundred times worse.”

“Muscle pains, eh?”

“Yeah, like, I’d move and everything would tense up.”

“And you haven’t had anything like that before? Or ran into something that could’ve caused it?”

“I’ve been kinda tired lately and my head’s been aching something fierce, but I’ve never had to deal with anything at that level.”

“Hm.” Lalna tapped his chin and thought for a moment before turning to Nano. “You had a bunch of pain ‘cause of the flux, right?”

She looked surprised and walked closer to the two of them. “Yeah. I’ve gotten used to it, but it was  _ real _ bad when I first got infected.”

“So,” Nilesy started, rubbing the back of his neck. “What, you think I got fluxed?”

“Well, I’m not ruling it out yet,” Lalna explained. “If all there is are muscle pains then I don’t really know what to make of it.”

“I s’pose there are worse things. I always kinda liked the flux, I don’t it’d be half bad!”

Nano and Lalna stared at him with something between contempt and pity. Nilesy knew he overstepped.

“Yeah… flux isn’t one of the better afflictions,” Lalna stated awkwardly.

“Lal, I think if he was fluxed he wouldn’t be too happy about it,” Nano said, delivering a playful swat to the back of Nilesy’s head.

Nilesy yelped at the pain. The hit wasn’t meant to hurt, he knew that, but it left him with a ringing in his ears and sharp stings flowing from the impact down to his neck. He clutched the back of his head and whined.

“Nano!” Lalna scolded.

“I didn’t even hit him that hard, I promise!” she fussed, putting her hands on Nilesy’s shoulder and back.

“It’s fine, I’m okay,” he groaned and slowly lifted his head up. “Not her fault, I’m just… Ugh.”

“Sorry, could you move your hands for a second?” Lalna asked, not giving Nilesy a chance to respond before grabbing his hands and moving them out of the way himself.

They all stood like that for a while: Nano patting Nilesy’s back, Lalna examining the back of his head, and Nilesy between them in an uncomfortable position. Lalna uttered a soft ‘huh’, prompting the other two to turn toward him with interest.

“What? What is it?” Nilesy asked, panicked.

“Um, something’s trying to break through your skin,” Lalna said simply.

There was no bite to it. Nothing in his tone would have suggested that he was joking, but for some reason, all Nilesy wanted to do was laugh.

“Wha-” He exhaled shakily. “What’re you talking about?”

“There’s these… bumps on the back of your head and they--” Lalna pushed down on Nilesy’s skull eliciting a painful scream from him. He swatted Lalna and Nano’s hands away to avoid the possibility of more head trauma.

“Alright, I get it!” He kept his hand up. “So, what? What’s trying to break through?”

“Better be careful. It might be some alien parasite,” Nano said waving her fingers in Nilesy’s face.

“What?!”

“Don’t think that it’s anything living,” Lalna said thoughtfully. “It didn’t look like anything was moving, so… Might be something to do with the bone underneath. It’s hard to tell and we don’t have anything we can reliably x-ray you with.”

“Bone under- Can’t you just--” he waved his hands nervously. “--cut it out? Remove it or something?”

“You trust me being behind you with a scalpel?” Lalna asked with a mischievous grin.

“Uh.” Nilesy put his hand behind his head. “So, what now?”

“We can check how it looks tomorrow or, uh, when whatever it is breaks through,” Lalna explained, not noticing how pale his words made Nilesy. “But for now there’s not much we can do.”

He sighed, “Great. Thank you both then.”

As he was about to hop off the operating table, his communicator buzzed softly.  _ Right,  _ in all the worrying about himself he completely forgot about Lomadia. It was only a ‘ _ where are you??’  _ from her, but it still left Nilesy nauseous biting the inside of his cheek. What could he say?  _ I know I left without telling you and made you worry but it’s only because my entire body felt like it was on fire. Anyway, it’s all good now, something’s just gonna burst through my skull in a couple days! _

“Is that Lom?” Nano peered over his shoulder. “Can you tell her I said hi?”

“I--” He quickly hid the communicator from view. “I can’t tell her why I’m here.”

“Why not?” she asked, almost amused.

“She… I don’t think she’d need to hear it. She’s got a lot on her plate.” he explained. “Can I… stay with you two? Just for a little while, until the whole… breaking through the skin thing happens.”

Nano and Lalna looked at each other briefly before shrugging.

“Come on, I’ll make a bed for you.” Nano walked out of the room and gestured for Nilesy and Lalna to follow. “Lal, put the kettle on, please?”

Nilesy slid off the table and followed after Nano quickly. “Ah, no need. I think I’m just gonna rest for the time being.”

Lalna still made his way to the kitchen while Nano knelt in front of a chest and pulled out a folding cot along with a blanket and a pillow. Nilesy kept close to her as she got up and looked around for a place to put his things.

“You mind sleeping on this floor?” Nano asked, moving to the corner of the room.

“Nope,” he said. He took the cot from Nano to lighten her load. “Thank you both for letting me hang back here.”

“What’re friends for, right?” she smiled and helped him set up his bed. After clicking it into place, she put the blanket and pillow on top of it and patted him on the back.

Truthfully, Nilesy still felt a little shitty. Not just physically--that was a given. It felt like he was trading using one of his well-meaning and overbearing friends for two others. He still undoubtedly felt better talking about this with Nano and Lalna than he did with Lom, but even as Nano left and instructed to call her if he needed anything, he felt like a selfish jerk. Perhaps, he thought, even more of a jerk now that he made his entire friend group feel like he couldn’t take care of himself.

He sighed. He didn’t want to think about that, all he cared about now was getting those hours of sleep he missed back. He dropped down on the bed, took his glasses off, and laid his head on his pillow. He brought his communicator up to his face and typed a quick response before closing his eyes slowly.

_ w/ Nano and Lal. needed some help with witchery. will be back ASAP. promise :) _


	3. The Bone's Are Melting; The Skeleton Is Ash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nilesy and Nano have a heart to heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more muscle pain type stuff but it's less specific

Nilesy had no idea how long he slept. He just knew that afterward, he didn’t feel any more well-rested. He had to make absolutely sure he didn’t put too much pressure on the wrong parts of his body, but that didn’t stop him from tossing and turning in his sleep and subsequently yelling out in pain. It didn’t help that Nano or Lalna would come rushing in whenever they heard him scream; the former chiding him to be careful and the latter taking the opportunity to examine his head in a way that made him feel more like a science experiment than a guest. All the while, his communicator kept buzzing, no doubt with messages from Lom updating him on her tasks or wondering how he was doing. He couldn’t bring himself to answer, and at a certain point, he slipped it off his wrist and put it on the floor beside him to ignore her further.

The pounding in his head made everything bleed together in the worst way. He couldn’t quite tell when he was dreaming and when he was awake; what voices stemmed from conversations between the two people hosting him and which ones were fabrications created from his dazed state. It made his sleep all the more restless, giving all the more reason to tune everything out.

Until, of course, he heard Lom’s voice just outside the door.

At first, he wasn’t sure if she was another dreamy facsimile or the real deal. Sure enough, though, he rolled over in bed, focused on the door, and saw Nano standing in the door frame with Lomadia over her. He felt like such an idiot. Of course, she’d have to come looking for him eventually. He had to have been here for, what, a day at least. Gods, and he was ignoring her all that time! What was he thinking? He pulled the blanket over his head and focused hard on their voices. Headache and nausea be damned, he had to know what they were talking about.

“...But I was  _ just _ thinking how I haven’t gotten around to visit anyone lately,” Lom said.

“Yeah! It’s been soooo boring, it’d be nice to have you start coming again,” Nano responded and then brought her voice to a just-loud-enough whisper. “Lal’s been such a shut-in lately.”

“I heard that!” Lalna yelled from a side room. Nilesy covered his ears and groaned as quietly as he could in response. He could just barely make out the two girls laughing, much to Lalna’s annoyance.

“So, did you just wanna check-in or-?” Nano asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

“Oh,” Lom made her voice a little quieter. “Well, I needed to ask you something serious.”

“Oh?”

Nilesy couldn’t follow past that. He was sure she was talking about something grave and serious, but it was hard to decipher specifics.

“Oh!” Nano shouted, making Nilesy wince in pain again. “Ha… haha. That  _ is _ weird. Well, I haven’t seen him here.”

“Really?” Lom sounded surprised. “He messaged me a while back saying he came to visit you two.”

“Ah. Well… I just meant I haven’t seen him  _ since _ then.”

They  _ were _ talking about him. And now Nilesy was having one of his friends lie right to the other’s face.  _ Great job there _ , he scolded himself.

“Well, if you hear anything from him, let me know,” Lom sighed.

“Of course,” Nano said.

He heard footsteps and a door closing. He quickly took the blanket off his head and looked at Nano.

“You didn’t have to lie to her like that,” he slurred. How long had it been since he last talked?

“Morning to you, too. I didn’t even know you were awake.” she greeted him. “And you were the one who said she couldn’t know you were here, genius. I’m risking getting between your little companion’s quarrel for your sake.”

“We’re not fighting, we just--” he sat up slowly, thinking of what to say. “--I don’t wanna worry her. It’ll be easier to explain once this is over.”

“She sounds pretty worried already, man.” she leaned against the wall. “She said she’s been everywhere looking for you.”

“We don’t need to be together all the time, okay?”

He said it louder than he intended. Nano was taken aback with slight concern as she looked down at him.

“I mean…” he stuttered. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“No, you’re right. I guess.”

“I didn’t wanna yell at you, though.”

“But you did. And it’s fine, whatever.”

“I just meant that--” he thought of how to explain it.“--she always takes care of me, and that’s fine, obviously. It’s nice that she cares. It just-”

“Just?”

“It just makes it seem like I’m a chore more than a partner.”

They were both silent, letting the statement hang in the air. Nilesy was prepared to beat himself up for revealing too much--it was like he was cornering Nano to be his therapist or something.

“Sorry,” he spoke up. “That’s a little heavy, isn’t it?”

Nano laughed. “A little, sure. But I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. Y’mind if I get a ‘little heavy’?”

“If you stop making fun of me, then no.”

“You drive a hard bargain. Hm, fine,” she said, feigning struggle in her voice. She took a deep breath. “When I first came here, there wasn’t a lot I knew how to do. Some people offered to help me out and show me the ropes, but they weren’t the best crowd to be around. I think they only wanted me around if I was useful to them.”

“What happened with them?”

“They blew me up.”

“Oh. What?”

“Yeah, again, not the best crowd. I ended up at Lalna’s old castle afterward. I thought he was someone I could trust to actually teach me how things work, and… y’know not end up killing me.” she sighed in annoyance. “And then he pushed me into a flux orb and locked me in a room for a week.”

“Jeez, That’s… not surprising, actually.”

She chuckled at that. “Anyway, the point is, I didn’t want anyone taking care of me. I was scared I’d end up hurt or manipulated, and they’d leave me as soon as I became useless. I guess it’s not the  _ exact _ same as your problem but… yeah.”

He furrowed his brow. Nano never talked about her past, and it was weird seeing her act so serious about something.

“D’you still feel that way?” He asked.

“Hm… not as much as I did before. The whole fear of being manipulated thing hasn’t gone away--” she rubbed at her arm nervously. “--but it’s gotten better. Sometimes people don’t take care of you ‘cus they want something or, in your case, ‘cus they feel like they have to. Sometimes they just do it ‘cus they want to.”

“I don’t think she’d tell me if she felt like she had to take care of me.”

“You could always, y’know, talk to her about it.”

“But…” he sighed frustratedly.

“C’mon, it won’t be that bad. Rip off the bandaid, man.”

“Well, we’ll see. How ‘bout that?”

“Right on,” she said. She cracked her back and yawned. “I think I’m gonna get some rest too. See ya, Niles.”

She started walking towards the stairs.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Nilesy stopped her.

“Hm?” She stopped and turned back to him.

“Did you just like… wake up with that flux stuff no problem, or did it really hurt?

She thought for a bit. “I had muscle pains like you for a while, but the night before this appeared, it was pretty rough. Like, couldn’t-move-while-screaming-in-agony rough.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t sweat it, though. It’s only your head, so I’m sure it won’t be as bad,” she said and then disappeared upstairs.

Nilesy looked at his communicator discarded on the floor. He stared at his hands for a while and then, finding nothing he wanted to do, laid down and drifted back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> the idea for this started out as a joke but then i got so attached to it and the need to make more content for these two was so strong that i just HAD to y know?


End file.
